The invention relates to a hydraulic fluid container for a vehicle hydraulic brake system, having at least one connecting sleeve, in which there is displaceably guided a valve member, which in a first position, into which it is spring-biased, blocks the connecting sleeve and which in a second position clears the connecting sleeve. Such a hydraulic fluid container is known from DE 39 12 110 A1, and corresponding GB Patent No. 2 230 831, both of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Hydraulic fluid containers of this type are installed as brake fluid containers in vehicles having a hydraulic brake system and in the operable state of the vehicle brake system are connected in a fluid-transferring manner to a master cylinder. Under certain circumstances, e.g. as a result of an accident or for repair of the vehicle, what may however occur is that the brake fluid container is separated from the master cylinder. There is then a danger that the brake fluid, which as a rule consists of highly toxic poly glycol compounds, may leak out of the brake fluid container and pass into the environment. Leaking brake fluid may moreover, in the event of contact with heated engine parts, ignite and trigger a vehicle fire. For these reasons, such brake fluid containers usually comprise a leak protection valve, which clears the fluid-transferring connection between the brake fluid container and the master cylinder so long as the brake fluid container and the master cylinder are connected into a subassembly and which closes the container as soon as the brake fluid container is separated from the master cylinder.
In the case of the brake fluid container known from DE 39 12 110 A1, a leak protection valve comprises a valve member disposed in a connecting sleeve of the brake fluid container and having a closing body and an actuating element. When the brake fluid container is connected to the master cylinder of a vehicle brake system, the actuating element is supported against the master cylinder housing and therefore holds the valve member in its open position counter to the action of a spring, which is supported against a support plate disposed in the interior of the brake fluid container. In the event of separation of the brake fluid container from the master cylinder, the closing body is moved by the bias of the spring into abutment with a sealing seat formed on the connecting sleeve, with the result that the brake fluid container is closed. This known brake fluid container has the drawback that the valve member has to be introduced into the connecting sleeve from the inside of the brake fluid container. The spring and the support plate for the spring then have to be fitted in a second operation inside the brake fluid container once the valve member is disposed in its position in the connecting sleeve. In the case of this known brake fluid container, mounting of the valve member as well as of the spring and the support plate is accordingly complex and therefore expensive.